Robot humanoids may not be quite ready to take over the world just yet, but they are getting closer each and every day. And Inside the NBA was the latest to come uncomfortably close to the realization that the human race will soon become totally irrelevant.
Long after the Knicks destroyed the Cavs in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Inside the NBA was doing what they do best by shifting the conversation to something totally outside of basketball. After all, how many different ways can you talk about the Cavs quitting?
So for EJ’s Neat-O Stat of the Night, Ernie Johnson called out the number of companies that Shaquille O’Neal is a spokesman for. That includes a new tech company called tm:rw (pronounced tomorrow, naturally). Move over Papa John’s and The General.
That’s when things got really interesting. The show brought out some of the company’s humanoids to entertain the cast and crew. You haven’t really lived until you have seen Charles Barkley dance with a miniature robot or see it do karate with Shaq. Even the biggest skeptics of AI have to be impressed with those moves, and that the robot did not immediately fall to the ground like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
As far as Shaquille O’Neal’s investment and sponsorship goes, hopefully this deal turns out a lot better for him than his one in failed crypto company FTX.
Yes, this was some fun television and we are all laughing now, but when the humanoids show up to host Inside the NBA after it returns from this break for the NBA Finals and has locked away the real cast in a broom closet in the Atlanta studios, it won’t be funny anymore. At least it will still be better than what we all had to witness last year.
About Matt Yoder